I met Woody over thirty years ago when he took over management of The Wizard'd Corner - Saskatoon's first gaming store. He is actually responsible for my introduction to the world of Warhammer - through Warhammer Fantasy Battle - and got me seriously collecting and painting miniatures for massed battles. Oh, I had had miniature figurines before that, but they were mostly for role-playing. I'd actually also owned AD&D's Battlesystem - but had only ever played it once or twice - with counters...
He had planned to run a campaign for Warhammer Fantasy Battle - each of us involved bought a huge sheet of hexagonal grid paper - I feel like it was 20"x24" with 3/4" hexes...? We were all to draw our own starting lands on that and the idea was all those maps would be butted up against each other to create a massive world over which we would fight!? I started building an Orc army - with old Rap Partha minis - as genuine Citadel miniatures weren't always easy to get in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada in the mid-to-late 80s... The campaign never got underway, but it was fun to dream and it got a bunch of us playing Warhammer.
Later we played a lot of other GW games - Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, Blood Bowl (2nd Edition), and Adeptus Titanicus (often fatasizing about playing 40K with scale models of Titans!). I also recall playing Battletech... We talked about playing a lot of historical miniature games... but I'm not sure we ever really got to it...? Maybe some DBA?
Eventually he moved to Calgary for work and I haven't seen him much in the intervening years. I saw him a few times at Fallcon - though we never got to play any games together there... I think the last time we actually rolled dice and pushed little army-peoples around on a tabletop together was when I went out to Calgary for J.C.s wedding... which.. was 17...?18 yeas ago!? We played a game of De Bellis Antiquitatis at our mutual friend Cory's!
We've been taking about getting together to play games for AGES. I've invited him to just about every games weekend I've run, but he's just never been able to make it. So I was SUPER excited when he said he'd be in town on the weekend and free to do stuff Saturday!!!!
So, for old time's sake, I threw down a game of Warhammer 40,000: Apocalypse for us to play. Because I've been wanting to get the Titans on the table (and it was something we'd dreamed about, back in the day) I decided to set something up with them. If I'd had a bit more notice he was coming, I would TOTALLY have tried to finish up a few of the Eldar Titans, too!! I probably COULD have just thrown the Imperial Titans against ALL of the Eldar... but that seemed a little... light on Imperial Forces... So I also gave him the Shadowsword (because it NEEDED to see some action too!) AND and an entire Spearhead Detachment of Leman Russ tanks!?
Xoxigar Tertium - Imperial World
3.550.019.M42
None could tell why the Eldar had come to the Xoxigar System, but come they had. There was no way they could capture any of the Imperial Worlds within the system, and what would they do with them even if they could Primus was a frozen waste, Secondus was an utterly polluted Forge world of the Adeptus Mechanicus (whose technologies the Eldar utterly disdained), and Tertium was a lush agriworld, and nascent Hive World - with a few large population centres begining to sprawl across a couple of the continents and slowly build upwards!
Large Warhosts, identified by the Order Xenos, as belonging to the Thaestalyrdaes Craftworld and the Biel-Tim Fleet, had arrived and held a number of key locations in strength across the system and seemed very unwilling to relinquish them!
The Eritque Arcus Maniple of Legio Amare Feles was relocated to Xoxigar Tertium to help deal with the assorted Xenos Infestations... They were joined by elements of the 17th Tallarn Super Heavy Tank and the 451st Tallarn Tank Regiment.
FORCES
Super Heavy Detachment - Eritque Arcus Maniple of Legio Amare Feles
Lords of War
Leonem Caeruleum - Reaver Battle Titan (Apocalypse Missile Launcher; Titan Inferno Gun: Reaver Laser Blaster) – 112PL
Tigris Viridi - Warhound Scout Titan (1 Titan Dual Turbo-laser Destructor; 1 Titan Vulcan Mega-bolter) – 60
Pardus Purpura - Warhound Scout Titan (1 Titan Dual Turbo-laser Destructor; 1 Titan Vulcan Mega-bolter) - 60
Super Heavy Detachment Total Power Level: 232
Super Heavy Auxiliary Detachment - 2nd ("Raiders") Squadron, 17th Tallarn Super Heavy Tank Regiment
Lord of War
Al Azif - Shadowsword - 25PL
Spearhead Detachment - #2 (Arkan) Troop, 2 Squadron 451st Tallarn Tank Regiment
HQ
Leman Russ Vanquisher Tank #201 (Captain Naji Raji) - Tank Commander (Vanquisher Battle Cannon, Lascannon) - 12PL
Heavy Support
Leman Russ Battle Tank #222 "Sala" (Battle Cannon, Lascannon, 2x Heavy Bolters) - 12PL
Leman Russ Punisher Tank #223 "Zakat" (Punisher Gatling Cannon, 3x Heavy Bolters) - 13PL
Leman Russ Battle Tank #224 "Sawm" (Battle Cannon, Lascannon, 2x Heavy Bolters) - 12PL
Leman Russ Demolisher Tank (Demolisher Cannon, Lascannon, 2x Plasma Cannons) - 13PL
Spearhead Detachment Total Power Level: 62
Imperium Total Power Level: 319
Combined Aeldari Forces
Asuryani Battalion Detachment - Biel-Tim Fleet (as Biel-Tan)
HQ
Farseer - 4 PL - War Master
Warlock - 3 PL
Troops
Dire Avengers (5) - 4 PL
Dire Avengers (5) - 4 PL
Dire Avengers (5) - 4 PL
Dire Avengers (5) - 4 PL
Elites
Howling Banshees (5) - 5 PL
Battalion Detachment Total Power Level: 28PL
Asuryani Battalion Detachment - Biel-Tim Fleet (as Biel-Tan)
HQ
Autarch (+ Warp Jump Generator) - 6PL - Warlord
Troops
Rangers (5) - 5 PL
Rangers (5) - 5 PL
Rangers (5) - 5 PL
Fast Attack
Warp Spiders (10) - 12 PL
Battalion Detachment Total Power Level: 33PL
Asuryani Spearhead Detachment - Biel-Tim Fleet (as Biel-Tan)
HQ
Warlock - 3 PL - Warlord
Elites
Wraithguard (5) - 8PL
Heavy Support
Wraithlord (Bright Lance) - 6PL
Wraithlord (Missile Launcher) - 6PL
Wraithlord (Scatter Laser) - 6PL
Spearhead Detachment Total Power Level: 29PL
Asuryani Super Heavy Detachment - Biel-Tim Fleet (as Biel-Tan)
Lord of War
T'chylmylwynbil -Tempest Heavy Grav-Tank (as Scorpion) - 30 PL
Dilytichylmywil -Tempest Heavy Grav-Tank (as Scorpion) - 30 PL
Mwalatacyndil - Tempest Heavy Grav-Tank (as Scorpion) - 30 PL
Asuryani Super Heavy Detachment Total Power Level: 90PL
Assuryani Auxiliary Super Heavy Detachment - Thaestalyrdaes Craftworld
Lord of War
Wraitknight – 21 PL
Asuryani Combined Total Power Level: 201
I just threw these forces together at the last moment without paying too much attention to the respective Power Levels - much as we had done back in the day... Yeah... those were not entirely balanced forces... at all... but I don't think either of us cared much! Open War FTW!
THE GAME
I did take some notes... and a few pictures... but I'm not sure I'm going to give a play-by-play of each turn like I have in the last few reports...
The forces of the Biel-Tim Fleet's Warhost - joined by a Wraithknight of the Thaestalyrdaes Craftworld - arrayed to defend their position against the Titanic Armoured Onslaught of the Imperium!
The Engines Walk!
Woody trying to figure out his initial Command Asset cards.
Keira was initially supposed to play Dungeon Crawl Classics this afternoon, but as none of the other Grrrlz showed up, she decided it would be more fun to join us and play her Eldar Wraithknight in tehi desperate battle!
The Wraithknight charges the Tallarn Spearhead Detachment!
The Wraithknight taking fire - and damage!
With grace and deftness it danced among the Armoured Squadron, selecting the Headquarters tank and cleaving it in twain with a a mighty chop of it's Titanic Ghostglaive!
The Shadowsword fires it's Volcano Cannon at the Eldar Tempest Heavy Grav-Tanks, while directing it's anti-presonel weapons at the Wraith Detachment hiding the the Barbed Venomgorse.
The Titans of Legion Amare Feles hammer the Eldar positions with their vast array of titanic weapons.
Dire Avengers and Howling Banshees hide in a ruined building, completely outclassed!
The Eldar Tempests lay down some heavy fire on the Titans, but take some even heavier fire in return!
Woody played a Command Asset card called "Demolitions" which allowed him to select an area of Defensible Terrain and shoot at it as though it was an immobile titanic vehicle - if he could do three damage to it, it would be utterly destroyed and all infantry within would have to disembark as from a destroyed vehicle (potentially taking damage in the process!)
Their cover utterly destroyed by the relentless bombardment of the Titan Legion, The Eldar Dire Avenger Battalion found itself caught out in the open...
And soon, only their commanders were left on the table to stand along against the Titanic onslaught!
Yikes!
the Astra Militarum Armoured Squadron finally ground forward enough that I was able to slip the battalion of Rangers and Warp Spiders in behind them!
Wraithguard were also brought back - in the Imperium's rear - with a Reinforcements or Webway Strike Card...?
Wraithknight looking seriously damaged by the relentless pummelling of the Lema Russes!
Rangers and Warp Spiders quickly take cover in nearby woods!
Last stand of the Eldar Wraithknight!
The titans slowly advance, destroying all in their path, and seising all objectives!
One Tempest down - the last two desperately pound the Titans, hoping to bring at least ONE down and blunt their attack, even if just a little...
Banshees return as reinforcements - to give the armour a little something to think about, beyond the Rangers arrived to their rear...
Pardus Purpura Chases down the Eldar Commanders.
Leonem Caeruleum attempts to stomp on the remaining Wraithlords
Leonem Caeruleum and Tigris Viridi attempt to finish off the last of the Eldar Heavy Grav-Tanks.
Honestly we probably spent over an hour just catching up, and stopped a lot throughout the games to reminisce. In the end we played through four turns, at which point the writing was on the wall and there was no way for the Eldar to recover. The remains of the Warhost would have to retreat, as so many others had in recent weeks.... I got SO close to taking down the Reaver... I probably should have focused on the Warhounds and taken them out, one at a time... ah, well... dice were rolled, toys were pushed around, good times were had!
SO GOOD to see Woody again! He truly is one of my favouritest peoples of all time. So good to finally get the Titans on the table! And the Shadowsword! AND the massed Imperial Armoured Squadron - THIS was the stuff Apocalypse was MADE for!
(I really need to get those ELDAR TITANS painted!!!)
Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:
Maybe one (or two!?) more Apocalypse game reports - if I can arrange another game (or two) in the next few days - then on to some Necromunda!